Man charged with planning ‘hit’ in Lorain shooting

LORAIN — A Lorain man has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the July 12 shooting of Shaun Freeman on Washington Avenue.

Lorain police Detective Jacob Morris said Wednesday that Richard Roule, 20, was involved in planning the shooting, although he declined to comment on exactly what police believe Roule’s role was. A police report on the shooting said a witness told officers Roule had ordered the “hit.”

“We believe that he’s clearly got some sort of involvement and an active involvement at that,” Morris said.

Roule also faces charges of DUI, failure to comply, resisting arrest, possession of cocaine and others from his arrest during a traffic stop Monday. Mike Stepanik, Roule’s attorney, said that Roule was taken to the hospital after his arrest because police believed he had swallowed some drugs.

The man believed to have shot Freeman, Corey Noble, 20, was bound over to a grand jury on an attempted murder charge after a preliminary hearing in Lorain Municipal Court on Tuesday, his attorney, J. Anthony Rich, said.

Rich said that there are text messages sent to Noble’s phone discussing Freeman, but he said there’s some question about whether the phone was in his client’s possession before the shooting. He also said police have not recovered the gun used in the shooting.

The police report said that Freeman told officers that on the night he was shot he gave a ride to Justin McGee, a friend, and another man he did not know. The other man, later identified as Noble, asked to be taken to West 18th Street and Washington Avenue.

When they arrived at the intersection in his 2004 Kia Optima, Freeman told officers that Noble got out of the vehicle and then turned and pointed a handgun through the passenger side window and fired a single shot.

The bullet hit Freeman on the right side of his chest and Noble fled, the report said.

Freeman told police he then got out of the car and told McGee to take the car to his house. Police found Freeman, who remains hospitalized, stumbling down the street, holding a shirt over his wound.

Noble also had faced charges stemming from his alleged role in an Indiana Avenue home invasion earlier this month in which police believe Noble accidentally shot Bahlial Davis, who has been charged with being an accomplice in the burglary.

Rich said the home invasion charges against Noble were dropped Tuesday and will be presented directly to a county grand jury.

Also charged in connection with the July 9 home invasion is Dalandrious Henderson, who is due in Lorain Municipal Court today.

Anyone with information on the Freeman shooting, which remains under investigation, should call Morris at (440) 204-2570.